UCSD Human Powered Submarine

NSF Funds Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site Program in SE

The National Science Foundation awarded Profs. Ken Loh and Michael Todd the establishment of a new
REU Site at UC San Diego (grant no. EEC-1757994). The “Designing for Safety and Safety by Design”
REU program will recruit and train 12 diverse U.S. scholars for eight weeks each summer. The students
will work closely with the PIs and Profs. Alicia Kim, Francesco Lanza di Scalea, Hyonny Kim, and J. S.
Chen to work on topics such as: quantifying potential load conditions, damage mechanics, and

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Scholarship

Alan Puah (left in photo), an SE senior, recently received a scholarship awarded by Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) SGH is a major structural engineering consulting firm, and the scholarship was established to celebrated its 60th Anniversary. The award was presented by Glenn R. Bell (right in the photo), Chief Executive Officer, on October 26, 2016.

Did you know?

Supporting Structural Engineering Department

The Structural Engineering Department has a mission to provide a comprehensive education and training to engineers by emphasizing and building on the commonality of engineering structures at the levels of materials, mechanics, analysis and design.

Your generous donation and investment will make that vision a reality.

John S. McCartney

Professor and Chair

On behalf of the approximately 500 undergraduate students, 200 graduate students, 26 researchers, 33 staff members, and 23 faculty members in the Department of Structural Engineering at the University of California San Diego, welcome! Structural engineering plays a critical role in fulfilling the basic needs of society for safe and sustainable built environments and transportation means, and is an interdisciplinary field that provides exciting opportunities for solving problems at the forefront of research and practice. Learn more

Structural Engineering Department at UC San Diego

Center researchers are world-renowned experts in experimental and computational methods for extreme events research. We leverage this expertise to develop better ways to protect entire built infrastructures, as well as bio-systems, from extreme events such as blasts from terrorist attacks and mining explosions, car crashes, sports collisions, and natural disaster such as landslides. Learn more

The Charles Lee Powell Structural Research Laboratories are the largest and most active full-scale structural testing facilities in the world. With its 50 ft. tall reaction wall and 120 ft. long strong floor, the Structural Systems Laboratory is equipped for full-scale testing of bridges, buildings and aircraft.

One of the world's largest shake tables, the six-degree-of-freedom shake table is used for the dynamic testing of full-scale bearings, isolators, and dampers. Computer-controlled hydraulic actuators that can apply up to 12 million pounds of force during earthquake simulations power SRMD.

In 2005, the Englekirk Structural Engineering Center opened as an expansion of Powell Labs, equipped with the world's first outdoor shake table. It is adjacent to the country's largest Soil Foundation-structure Interaction Facility. UCSD Blast Simulator is the world's first laboratory to simulate the effects of bombs without the use of explosive materials.